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FIELD TRIP FOR OCTOBER  |
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Graves Mountain "Rock Swap and Dig" for
2006
8 am to 6 pm,
Friday, October 6, 2006
8 am to 6 pm, Saturday, October 7, 2006 8 am to 6 pm, Sunday, October 8, 2006 "Your society is invited to field collect minerals at Georgia's
premiere mineral location!"
The SFMS Field Trip Committee has been in contact
with the caretaker in charge of Graves Mountain, Clarence Norman Jr., in regard
to his plans to hold a three day dig and rock swap on the
Mountain during October 6, 7, & 8, 2006. He will have the mountain open to
collecting from 8 am to 6 pm each day. All participants must stop at the
welcome table in the Hospitality tent to sign a liability release and make a
small contribution to defray the cost of opening the mountain and
providing port-o-lets. There will be several golf cart type, four
wheeled vehicles available to transport those participants who have trouble
walking long distances. The dig will cease and everyone is expected to be off
the mountain by around 6 pm each day. Participants will be allowed to park in a
designated area on the mountain.
Rock Swap and Hot
Food/Drinks:
Junior will set aside an area in the upper parking lot for tables to be setup for daily rock swaps. Anyone who would like to setup a table(s), please contact Junior at the phone numbers listed below. Hot food cooked on the grill, cold drinks and chips will be available for purchase on the mountain during all three days of these events. Don't forget to bring some extra money to buy the special "Graves Mountain Rock Swap and Dig" T-shirt! THESE DIGS ARE OPEN TO ALL SFMS CLUBS.
Mark your calendar and tell all your members about these great events! Contact Information:
Clarence Norman Jr. - 706.359.3862 (his business) or 706.359.2381 (his home) Please follow this link for a map to
Graves Mountain: (CLICK
HERE)
DIRECTIONS: From Atlanta's I-285, take I-20 east to the exit for Washington, GA SR 78 (SR 10, SR 17) and turn left. Travel north to Washington, turn right onto SR 378 and drive 11 miles to the Graves Mountain area. The entrance to Graves Mountain is on your right about 8/10 mile past the Lincoln county line sign. The entrance is a paved road that goes through a gate and up the hill to the parking area(s). Proceeded from your parked vehicle to the Registration/Hospitality tent to sign your liability release form and to make a donation for the portable bathrooms, etc. SFMS Field Trip Committee:
Please reply by e-mail to: dmc@gamineral.org Jim Flora - SFMS Field Trip Committee Chair Graves Mountain code of conduct! Park your vehicle in the designated area(s)
only.
Please protect our ability to field collect at Graves
Mountain!
Report Violations to: Clarence Norman Jr. 706.359.3862 (his business) or 706.359.2381 (his home) All reported violations will be held in strict confidence. The Southeast Federation
of Mineralogical Societies, Inc
The Friendly Federation - Founded in 1976 to serve. DMC Program of the SFMS Field Trip Committee An
Official Field Trip of the 8:30 AM
EST We will be collecting the cephalon (head) and pygidium (tail) of the
Cambrian trilobite Blountia sp. from the Conasauga Shale formation. They will range in size from 1mm to 25
mm. On rare occasions a complete
specimen will be found. For the
trilobite collector this will be an opportunity to add a rare specimen to your
collection. Tools: At a minimum bring a rock hammer, newspaper (to wrap specimens), and a beer flat or similar item (to hold specimens) Hazards: Some climbing on loose slippery
shale may be involved. This will not be
a good trip for small children, but teenagers will probably do
OK. Directions: Take exit 350 off of I-40 east or west
bound (approximately 40 mile west of Essentials / Accommodations: There are several eateries and motels one exit before 350 and one exit after 350. All are within 6 mile of the collecting site. "Field trips are open to all members of associated clubs of
the DMC program of the SFMS Field Trip Committee and to all members of SFMS
member clubs who have provided their membership with SFMS liability insurance.
Because of insurance requirements, members of the GENERAL PUBLIC are NOT invited
on this or any DMC program field trips!"
DMC Program /
SFMS Field Trip committee's purpose:
To collect field trip information from it's member societies; schedule and coordinate field trip dates; disseminate field trip information to all member clubs so that each member society may publish this information as one of their "official" scheduled field trips. "SFMS/GMS FIELD
TRIP"
Standard Mineral Company Glendon, North
Carolina
Saturday, October 21, 2006 8:00 AM till Noon The SOUTHEAST FEDERATION has again been invited to participate in one of the best and most interesting field trip opportunities in the Southeast. If you have not collected here in the past, you should not miss an opportunity to go to this quarry for quality specimen/cabinet grade pyrite. The Glendon pyrophylite mine is an open pit quarry that has produced many perfect pyrite crystals up to 4 inches on a side and 6 inches long!! Generally, you can find a cube approaching 2 inches or so and a bunch of others in all shapes and sizes up to one inch or more. The pyrite cubes are located loose on the surface or in seams down a foot or less in the bottom of the quarry floor. If it hasn't rained for some time, the light gray pyrophylite soil seems to coat everything with a gray goop that makes it difficult to identify the pyrite crystals on the surface. Using a VERY GOOD metal detector makes the hunt almost a "no brainer"! A basic metal detector may offer some help in finding those cubes containing the most iron but just digging anywhere in the quarry floor will probably yield much quicker results. You may also find small greenish blue fluorite crystals in crevices on some of the larger boulders strewn about the middle of the quarry floor. Collecting: pyrite cubes, pyrite cubes in matrix, green fluorite, and micro-minerals. DIRECTIONS: Take 1-85 North to Charlotte,
North Carolina. On I-85 North of Charlotte, either exit the interstate at
Lexington on to US 64 and travel through Asheboro to SR 42. Turn right and
follow SR 42 past Coleridge and Bennett and SSR 902. Then SR 42 makes a left
towards Carbonton and Sanford. Before Carbonton there is a flashing yellow
light @ SSR 1006. Turn right onto SSR 1006/ Glendon-Carthage road and go south
to the mine which will be on your left. If you spend the night at Sanford you
will be traveling West on SR 42 and have to make a left on SSR 1006. Sanford,
which is 12 miles to the East of Glendon, is probably the best bet for finding a
good motel room and nearby restaurants.
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